Do you remember those Wendy’s commercials from the mid-80’s?
“Where’s the Beef?“
This is my fluid version of that.
A can of Canada Dry Ginger Ale purchased in Canada says “Made from real ginger”
A can of Canada Dry Ginger Ale in the USA does not say that.
Why?
Because the claim was removed from cans in the US 2019 a class action law suit was settled in that country. Despite similar litigation in Canada, the claim was not removed from Canadian cans as it was not part of any settlement.
When I was a kid, a tummy ache necessitated a glass of ginger ale to settle the upset. Once upon a time there really was “real ginger” in a can so it really did settle an unhappy tummy, but not anymore.
Take a close look at the can and there is a difference between the US and Canadian ingredient lists. In the US the ingredients indicates that the drink contains “less than two per cent” ginger extract. The list on a Canadian can only lists to “natural flavour”.
Court documents from a Canadian class-action lawsuit claimed there is just one drop of ginger extract in about 70 cans of Canada Dry. The ginger extract in Canada Dry is derived from ginger root and called ginger oleoresin. (Source: CBC)
Before Christmas, when I was mixing up a cocktail that called for ginger beer I looked at the bottle of Great Gentleman’s Ginger Beer and noticed something similar. The ingredients listed: water, cane sugar, natural flavour, citric acid, potassium sorbet, sodium benzoate, and ascorbic acid.
No ginger!
So I went hunting…..and finally found one that lists “ginger root” in the ingredient list! Fever Tree Ginger Beer. And it stood up in the taste test, it tastes like actual ginger.
All this aside…my next step is the abandonment of both and a switch to making my own ginger syrup (thus the massive chunk of ginger root int his image) and our soda maker.
Problem solved…I will know what’s int he bottle and it will taste like the real thing because it will be the real thing.
